@evemar3186 hey! i’m actually looking at that major right now did you end up choosing USC?
One per room is confirmed. Also posted the longer chunk of the letter in current happenings as this thread tends to wind down and be replaced with new class thread.
From USC:
Campus housing is being reconfigured for appropriate distancing between students residing on campus. All rooms will be single occupancy this year. Details will be available from USC Housing in the near future.
In the wake of confirmed single occupancy housing does anyone know if we will have the option to room next to our originally selected roommate for doubles?
@mamba4life that’s a very good question and I am wondering the same for my daughter who had selected a roommate she’d really like to still live close to. In their case, they requested first, second and third choice in suites so we’re thinking perhaps they will give them each a bedroom in the same suite.
My daughter (and I watching next to her) attended an SCA Q&A session. They told the students that:
- ON July 8, Web Reg and the class schedule will be updated to show for sure which classes are all online, in-person, or hybrid.
- Also on July 8 or 9, Housing will email everyone who applied for on-campus housing and ask if now that they know what their classes will look like do they still want an on-campus room? I guess the requested reply turnaround time will be quick because:
- By mid-July they should finally put out the actual housing assignments out since they will then know who still wants to come and who doesn't.
- He THOUGHT that they would be able to accommodate all freshmen who still want housing but of course I suppose that depends on how many actually want to come. Sounded like for upper classmen they would see how much room there was and there might be some priority system.
I might send an email to housing to ask about this roommate question. They may not know until they see how many say they still want housing on campus, but I will at least ask if original roommate requests will be considered and if they’ll try to put those folks close to each other.
I am hearing mixed messages about whether USC is allowing students to defer for 1 year. Has anyone here seen anything in writing that speaks to this? Thanks!
You might contact your admissions advisor. This was updated on 6/2/2020 http://ask.usc.edu/app/answers/detail/a_id/484/~/can-i-delay-or-defer-my-undergraduate-admission-to-a-future-term%3F
@ikg4answers
Thank you for the link. Yes, I think they changed the language as you indicate. Does not sound likely. My daughter definitely does not want to defer but she is in the school of architecture and it’s hard to imagine freshmen studio classes via zoom… :neutral:
@5Onthehill
Hopefully those classes will be in person - I would guess they are pretty small…? It will be great when the updated class list comes out!
@mamba4life I wrote to Housing asking about whether they will try to keep students near each other who had signed up as roommates, such as putting roommates in two different rooms of the same suite now that it must be single rooms only, and whether they can/should do anything else to indicate that this would still be their preference The reply I got:
"At this time we are still trying to finalize the housing information for fall. Unfortunately we do not have an answer to your question below. Once we have more information we will notify all applicants. Thank you for your patience. "
@CADREAMIN
Yes, I think the classes are usually only 12 students per instructor and their desks are large which creates distancing. Still, it feels like USC really doesn’t want kids on campus in the fall due to the risk so we are on pins and needles. So sad for these freshmen!
Wow the news is out. It’s big, but expected, given the recent spikes in socal.
We requested a deferral. My daughter is wont be 18 until almost December and she is a voice major - singing is being majorly limited because of the deep lung aerosols. We received this today:
“At this time, we are only granting deferral requests for very specific cases, 1. Students who are participating in mandatory military service, 2. Students who are participating in religious service, and 3. Students with certain documented medical conditions. I understand that this is not how you were hoping to start your freshman year, but the decision is final.”
I am disappointed. Texas schools - even Rice - are allowing deferrals and, as far as I can tell, USC has one of the largest endowments in the country.
Also - I haven’t seen this in this thread. I am concerned about sending my daughter 2,000 miles away to live in downtown LA during a test year of severely decreasing the police budget. I have no doubt this new model can eventually work but happening so fast, I am concerned. If someone from LA can tell me I don’t need to worry about this, I would appreciate it.
And finally, with yesterday’s letter describing locking the campus down even further with all online classes, I hope they have multiplied counseling services by 10 times. To send new Freshmen away from home and have them live alone, taking classes from their rooms, with social events by Zoom sounds like a recipe for disaster. In my opinion, at this point, it should be online from home.
One more thing – I can’t find financial information. When are payments for fall semester due?
@Newmommy9999 completely understand all of your concerns. I try to put myself in the mind of a “first one to college mom”, and frankly, it’s hard for me to grasp. Each level has their own set of issues, like upperclassman who are fulfilling high level major classes where in person is key. ugh. Since she is a freshman with tons of classes to do, would she consider doing her GEs or other intro type classes from home, at least as a plan for the first semester? Not what the students dreamed of for their first semester at college, but it’s a tough situation all around, ugh.
One question I haven’t seen asked (and I don’t know the answer to) is if you back out of your housing contract and things open up second semester, can you apply for housing then? Maybe @CAtransplant has asked this?
Payments aren’t due until sometime in August, it will show up in your daughter’s portal.
Payments are due the Friday before classes start so August 14.
Students are starting to get this email
from Housing …
I had not thought of what you suggested. Honestly, I didn’t know that was a possibility. When the letter said to consider living elsewhere, I assumed they meant off campus housing or living at home if the student is from LA area. But your understanding is a student can opt to stay home, as in Texas?
@Newmommy9999
Yes, my read of the communications is that USC PREFERS that students stay at home and take their courses online. They do not want kids on campus due to the complications and risk of managing the welfare of 20K students during a pandemic. I believe many/most kids will live at home and maybe (hopefully) return second semester if the covid crisis improves. That’s why you have to move out of your dorm after first semester and reapply for housing for second semester starting Sept 1.
My daughter… who will be a senior… has a lease at University Gateway (non-USC private apartment community), so there is no escaping that lease. But even if she could, she seems very set on returning to L.A. She found it hard dealing with the 3-hour time zone difference and self-motivating from here in FL for remote learning. Plus… I just do not think she can stomach the idea of a senior year ending with nothing but online and virtual experiences.
USC sent out a FA email last night implying that everyone’s FA summary will be redone with the initial assumption that students will be at home and studying remotely. Once USC housing contracts lock-in as finalized, they will automatically re-do those summaries. But if you are like my daughter and living in Non-USC housing, you will have to reconfirm that status and upload proof (i.e. a lease copy). We already did so. So they clearly do not plan to allow students to live at home and get aid as if they had those additional housing expenses. That part makes sense, but this is clealry all new this cycle.
Right there with you @WWWard! D is excited to go back, been home long enough! And wants to be in her apartment!
The staying elsewhere/home option really only relates to those in USC housing or recently admitted transfers currently looking for housing, which leaves the huge off campus community likely returning no matter what. Generally speaking, upperclassmen want to be there and have financial commitments to do so. In their emails they kept referencing “we know some are making decisions on the July 1st lease date” - who the heck is that? They have obviously never leased off campus or erroneously think people can get out of their leases. uh, that’s a big NO there. Leases are on. So everyone with outside housing either returns to use them, or they sit empty, but being paid for, like we (and others) have been doing since March.
Like many people, we signed our lease that starts Aug 1, 2020 - July 2021 in November of 2019, almost a year ahead! In 9 years of leasing we have never signed later than December the previous year. Some can sign a bit later, but the longer one waits the harder it is to find what you want and pricing can go up.
No doubt the area around campus will be business as usual aside from the restrictions in place for businesses, etc. But hopefully during the semester (still 6 weeks away) things get better in some terms and people can go about their day somewhat as usual.